Improvement in machines for degreasing pipes and the like by immersion in liquid solvents



March 2, 1954 T. J. K IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR DEGREASING PIPES ANDTHE LIKE BY IMMERSION IN LIQUID SOLVENTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 23.1948 EARNEY INVENTOR: [120ml Keanwy,

y mm TTORNEYS;

March 2, 1954 NE 2,670,746

- T. J. IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR DEGREASING PIPES AND THE LIKE BYIMMERSION IN LIQUID SOLVENTS Filed Aug. 23, 1948 '4'Sheets-Sheet 2JlfgE/VTOR; 1710122415 earn/4y, @iww I I I BY A TTORNEYS.

March 2, 1954 NEY 2,670,746

T. J. KEA IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR DEGREASING PIPES AND THE LIKE BYIMMERSION IN LIQUID SOLVENTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Au 25, 1948 FJGiQ'.

. INVENTOR: fiwinasjflarii/eg B, WW

ATTORNEYS.

March 2, 1954 T J EY 2,670,746

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR DEGREASING PIPES AND THE LIKE BY IMMERSIONIN LIQUID SOLVENTS Filed Aug. 23. 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 WI NESSESINVENTOR:

A TTORNEYS.

1720172425- Jfimmey,

lax WW Patented Mar. 2, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IMPROVEMENT INMACHINES FOR DE- GREASING PIPES AND THE LIKE BY IM- MERSION IN LIQUIDSOLVENTS Thomas J. Kearney, Detroit, Mich., assignor to DetrexCorporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan ApplicationAugust 23, 1948, Serial No. 45,658

moving oil and grease is greatly increased when the product, such as atube, is bothheavy and hot as is frequently the case. Therefore, theobjects of this invention are, first, to provide a degreasing machinefor accommodating heavy and hot tubes, rods, extrusions and the like inan automatic manner as they come out of an oil quenching bath; second,to provide a degreasing machine for the accommodation of such materialsin varying lengths; third, to provide an adjustable conveyor means in adegreasing machine in which the adjustment may be made by an operatorwithout subjecting himself to the vapors in the machine; and fourth, toprovide an automatic device in a degreasing machine for discharging thematerials being degreased at the conclusion of the operation. Theobjects of this invention may be realized by the means described indetail in the following specification.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detaileddescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,showing by way of example, a preferred form.

Fig. 1 is a front end View of the loading side of a degreasing machineconveniently embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine with parts broken away tobetter disclose important details and as seen looking from the left handend of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken as indicated bythe lines and arrows III-III in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevation of a discharge device and takenas indicated by the lines and arrows IV-IV in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view showing an adjustingmeans hereinafter particularly referred to, and taken as indicated bythe lines and arrows V-V in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the adjusting means looking in thedirections of the lines and arrows VI-VI in Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is a vertical transverse sectional view of a screw adjustingmeans, taken as indicated by the lines and arrows VII-VII in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a vertical elevational view as seen 4 Claims. (01. 134-105)looking in the direction of the lines and arrows 'VIII-VIII in Fig. 1.

The preferred form selected for description herein as illustrative ofthe invention is a machine for degreasing heavy metal tubes as they comeout of an oil quenching bath in a heated condition. It will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention is equallyapplicable to the other materials mentioned above and to still othermaterials analogous thereto, and therefore it will not be necessary tospecifically describe the invention with reference to such othermaterials.

In describing the embodiments of this invention shown in the drawings, aspecific terminology will be adopted for the purpose of clarity, but itis to be understood that it is not intended thereby to limit theinvention to this detailed description of illustrative embodimentsthereof. Each term adopted is intended to include all equivalentsthereof which operate in a substantially similar manner to accomplish asubstantially similar result.

The invention may be analyzed for descriptive purposes into thefollowing principal elements: a conventional housing comprehensivelydesignated 9, a main upper drive shaft 1 l], a secondary lower shaft II,sprockets l2 mounted fixedly on said shaft I0, and H, conveyor chains13, I4, and

I5 in operative engagement with said sprockets l2, carriers 16 mountedon said conveyor chains 13, a solvent container H, and a drive mechaonlyone is shown. This adjustment means is made up of two pairs ofhorizontal members 21 and 28 of channel-like cross section and attachedat the ends thereof to vertical members 29 which are mounted on framemembers 3| with capacity for guided vertical movement. The bearing 24 ismounted on the upper horizontal member 21 and a pair of spaced channelbeams 32 are mounted between the members 2'! and 28 immediately beneaththe bearing 24 as strengthening supports therefore. Vertical adjustmentscrews 34 extend up through holes formed in the horizontal members 2'!and are supported and mounted at their lower ends on frame member 35.The upper portions of the screws 34 are threaded to receive nuts 36 andlock nuts 31, the nuts 36 providing adjustable supports for the upperhorizontal member 21. The adjustment operation will be obvious from theabove description in connection with Fig. 5. Air discharged upwardlythrough ducts 40 by a blower fan 4! removes any solvent vapor whichmayrise above the condensing area-of the machinedetermined by waterjacket 62 of a type weil known in the art, and serves to cool the hotpipes as they leave the machine.

The conveyor chains l3, l4 and i5 are in operative engagement with thesprockets i2 and have mounted thereon the vertically spaced carriers [6.The spacing and number of chains and associated sprockets depend uponthe range of lengths of tubes to be handled. By spacing the chains atsmall distances, short tubes can be accommodated as well as long ones.Each carrier 16 consists of a pair-of converging rod-like elements whichprovide a slightincline'of the carriers for receiving anddischarging'the tubes 45 which are accommodated by the degreasingmachine.

A solvent'container His mounted in the bottom of the degreasing machineand'is so positioned that the carriers it will be dragged through thesolvent as they are carried underthe .lower sprockets l2 rotatablymounted on shafts II. Associated with each conveyor chain 3, i i and :15are U shaped guides 56 which extend down-around'the lower sprockets itas shownin Fig.2. Inclined receiving and discharge guides 5i 'and'52'areprovided at'the upper ends of each ot'theU-shaped guides 5B at the frontand rear openings 23o andi23b ofthe casing 23 as shown iin Figs. 1,Z'and 3. These openings also permit access'to adjustment means 35 and 3?without removal of any part of the machine. An inclined ejector arm 53mounted on a rod-54 pivotally mounted on the machine frame '3i at'55 isprovided for gently urging tube 45 to roll on the'carrier ion to thedischarge guides'52 as shownin Fig. 3. At times a tube 145 may becomestuck on the guides '16 because of flat spots, ir-

regularities, or distortions of the surface orthe tubes or other workbeing treated requiring a greater pressure to 'dislodgethetube '45. Inthis event the-tube "45 will continue its upward movement on thecarriers [6 raising the ejector arm 53 until the ofiset'54a of the rod54 contacts the shaft [0, whereupon said arm 53 will initiate Since theejector arm 53 may swing contact'therewith, the pressure developed fromthe motion of the tube is small but quite suiiicient. The ejector arm53.is guided in its move .ment between by a pair of angle standards 56mounted on one of the bars 32. Normally the ejector arm 53 is supportedin horizontal position as shown'in broken lines in Fig. 3by a stop boltwhich is selectivelyengageable' for adjustment intoverticallyiarrangedholes in the standards 56 to'take care of the'adjustmentsreouired as the .main'drive shaft i is moved vertically. toguide the inclined tubes 45 at each end thereof,

In order guide plates ill, shaped as shown in Fig. 8, are provided ineachend of'the'degreasing'machine. Thecarriers IS on the conveyor chainsi 3, Hand 1-5 are lined up as betweenconveyor chains so 4 that the tubes45 are held at a slight angle with the horizontal. This inclination ofthe tube induces a high rate of flow of solvent through the tube whichaids in the cleaning and also insures drainage of solvent from the tubebefore it leaves the machine. The inclination also eliminates anypossibility of air binding within the tube (particularly in smalldiameter tubes) which would otherwise occur if the tube was immersed inthe solvent in a perfectly horizontal position particularlyif the tubewas slightly deformed so as toproduce an air pocket. It has been foundthat a pitch of 3" in 20 works well but the exact inclination is-notcritical.

The drive mechanism 22 is of a conventional form with capacity foraccommodation to adjustments ofthe main drive shaft H! by means of thepivotally mounted pinion 60. The motor El is connected by chain 62 togear reduction box 63 which in turn is connected by chain 54 to thedrive sprocket '65 mounted on the end of the driveshaft Hi.

The solvent supply is maintained by storage tank 51, from whichdistribution to the solvent tanks is eifected by pump ill. Aninclinedsheet H is provided over the solvent tank to act as a 'bafliefor directing vapor from the tankinto the cleaning area of the machine.Both of the tanks are provided with conventional heating means (notshown) for heating the solvent.

It is to be noted that the-duct 40 has branches which extendtransversely beneath the receiving and discharge guides 5i and '52respectively at the loading and unloading sides of'the machine, and thatsaid ducts have inlet apertures on their tops by way of which the air isreleased'to pass upward through the intervals between said "guides Whilethis invention has been described above in considerable detail andcertain modifications thereof suggested, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various other changes and modifications may bemade without departing 'from the spirit or scope of the invention asdefined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine'for degreasing pipes or the like, a pair of verticallyspaced horizontal shafts; plural sprocket wheels at spaced intervalsalong the respective shafts; endless conveyer chains trained aboutcorresponding pairs of the sprocket wheels; laterally projecting pipesupporting 'ledges'at spaced intervals on the chains; 2. re-

ceptacle containing liquid solvent through which the pipes are passed asthe chains round the lower sprocket wheels; a gravity feed guidewayadjacent the upper sprocket wheels at one side for directing the pipessuccessively onto the ledges on the descending runs of the chains; an

inclined gravity discharge guideway adjacent'the upper sprocket wheelsat the opposite side; and pivoted ejector arms normally stoppedin'horiaontal position somewhat below the upper sprocket shaft andhaving inclined portions at their distal'ends and adapted to be engagedfrom beneath by the pipes for displacing the pipes from the ledges onthe ascending runs of the chains onto the gravity discharge guideway,said arms being limited in their rising movement by contact with theupper sprocket shaft so that the pipes, in the event that they shouldstick, are forcibly dislodged for ejection from the chains.

2. In a machine for degreasing pipes and the like, a pair of verticallyspaced horizontalshafts with pluralsprocket wheels atspaced intervalsthereon; endless chains trained about corresponding pairs of thesprocket wheels; laterally projecting pipe supporting ledges at spacedintervals on the chains; a receptacle containing liquid solvent throughwhich the pipes are passed as the chains round the lower sprocketwheels; a gravity feed guideway adjacent one side of the upper sprocketwheels and a gravity discharge guideway adjacent the opposite side ofthe upper sprocket wheels, said guideways being of open construction;means operative to displace the pipes successively from the ledges onthe ascending runs of the chains onto the gravity discharge guideway;and blower means forcing air upwardly through said guideways.

3. In a machine for treating pipes and the like with hot liquid solvent,a pair of vertically spaced horizontal shafts with plural sprocketwheels at spaced intervals thereon; endless conveyer chains trainedabout corresponding pairs of the sprocket wheels; laterally-projectingpipe-supporting ledges at spaced intervals on the chains; a containerfor liquid solvent through which the pipes are passed as the chainsround the lower sprocket wheels; a gravity feed guideway adjacent oneside of the upper sprocket wheels and a gravity discharge guidewayadjacent the opposite side of the upper sprocket wheels, said guidewaysbeing of open construction; means operative to displace the pipessuccessively from the ledges on the ascending runs of the chains ontothe gravity discharge guideway; an open top casing in which solventcontainer and the conveyers are housed; cooling means surrounding thecasing at a level above the solvent container; air ducts transverselybeneath the respective guideways; and blower means forcing air into theducts for release upwardly through the guideways onto the pipes.

4. In a machine for degreasing pipes and the like, a housing having inthe bottom thereof a container for hot liquid solvent; a cooling jacketsurrounding the housing at a level above the container for maintaining alimit level for solvent vapor; horizontal shafts respectively in theupper and lower portions of the casing; endless conveyer chains trainedabout spaced sprocket wheels on the respective shafts; laterallyprojecting pipe supporting ledges at spaced intervals on the chains forpassing the pipes through the solvent as the chains round the lowersprocket wheels; a gravity feed guideway extending inwardly through anopening in one side wall of the casing adjacent the upper sprockets fordirecting the pipes onto the ledges on the descending runs of thechains; a gravity discharge guideway extending outward through anopening in the opposite side wall of the casing adjacent the uppersprockets; ejector means for displacing the cleaned pipes successivelyfrom the ledges on the ascending runs of the chains onto the dischargeguideway; and vertically-adjustable bearings for the upper sprocketshaft within the housing accessible for adjustment from the exteriorthrough the aforesaid wall openings.

THOMAS J. KEARNEY.

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